Good and Bad

Gallery: AvianPosted March 24, 2015131 views8 comments

Cliff Swallow at Gilbert Water Ranch-- Gilbert Arizona

1/2500 at f5.6 and ISO 800
Canon 7D Mark II
Canon 500mm with 1.4 TC

Was good just to get one of these fast flyers in the frame. Problem solved when I found them bringing nesting material and they hovered a bit before entering the nest.

The background was bad as it is a cement bridge with some dirt at the bottom. Therefore the 2-tone background. They were nesting under the bridge giving a bit of a lighting problem.

The bird id is a book id -- as close as I can guess

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Wayne Jones on March 24, 2015 at 3:00 PM

Good catch, with nice detail in the swallow, Scott. Looks like you avoided that light problem with the bird in this position. I actually like the background, although I think it would look better if you applied some blur to soften those vertical streaks, especially on the right side.

Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on March 24, 2015 at 7:40 PM

The bg isn't bad, Scott. Nice job getting the swallow at all. We have bunches of three or four species in our yard and I've yet to get anything this good.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on March 24, 2015 at 8:03 PM

I would be thrilled with this shot Scott. No nits from me!

Registered on August 7, 2014, 125 Posts, 2319 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on March 24, 2015 at 8:23 PM

Very nicely executed Scott, I know this isn't easy. The head and wings look great. I do wish for more depth of field for the tail although you were probably challenged for light to get that shutter speed at a reasonable iso and I would run some noise reduction on the background. Cool capture!

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on March 24, 2015 at 9:02 PM

Very nice, Scott. A difficult subject in any case.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on March 24, 2015 at 9:03 PM

Nice job and your hard work paid off Scott. I do agree with he suggestions made by Nate and think they would make this even better.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Josiah Launstein on March 24, 2015 at 10:05 PM

I love this picture because of the colours and how graceful the bird looks in flight. I also really like how the bird has a meal, and how much detail there is in the feathers.

Registered on January 26, 2013, 52 Posts, 126 Comments

Comment posted by David Rowe on March 26, 2015 at 4:58 AM

Hi Scott
It only looks good to me – really good!
The tones of the BG compliment those of the plumage. The BG is simple and offers no distractions, so much the better. The pose is quite captivating.
Cheers, David R.

Registered on December 20, 2013, 133 Posts, 286 Comments